Walk Your Way Fit!
Walking is about as natural as breathing. In fact, most babies learn how to walk before they learn how to talk. Many people believe that they cannot get a great workout walking. However, while jogging does have certain advantages to walking, fitness walking can have just as many benefits as jogging.
Walking and jogging are quite different. Walking tends to be a less intense exercise, while jogging tends to increase the heart rate more than walking. Furthermore, there is less skeletal pounding when walking. Each running step lands with approximately 3 -5 times your body weight. That is a lot of force on a beginner's body, joints, bones, and more. For this reason, it is always recommended for a beginner to begin a progressive walking program before he or she attempts to start jogging.
However, just because walking is less intense than jogging, it doesn't mean that you can't get a good workout by walking. For example, you can add intensity to a walking program by using a weight back pack or taking a trail with a nice hilly incline. The bigger the incline, the harder the workout.
Walking programs are excellent for beginners, injured athletes, pregnant women, or anybody wanting an intense workout without putting stress on their body. In many cases, beginners can improve their physical fitness with a good walking program. Pregnant women and injured athletes can maintain their fitness level with a walking program until they are able to resume jogging.
Now that the weather's starting to cool off a bit, why not take a hike out in the beautiful fresh air? If you are not able to walk outside, a treadmill can be just as good.
